She woke up in a ditch. It was a lovely ditch, full of dirt and rocks. Ok it wasn’t that lovely. It was the trees above that were lovely. And they were bright. Light stretched past the leaves above forming streams that blinded her. Covering her eyes she sat up, the glare of the light making her eyes water, and a ringing in her head making her mind hurt. A headache. That’s what it was called. That’s right… a headache… she thought, visions of darkness flooded around her, and everything went black.
She woke up in a ditch. It was not a lovely ditch. In fact it kind of hurt. At least it wasn’t bright anymore. Well as bright. There was still the circle in the sky. The moon, if she remembered correctly. The ringing was dimmer too. Now her face just itched. She reached her hand up and touched the large scar stretching across her face. Her head starting to ring louder and louder, a dark laughter seemed to penetrate to the depth of her skull… and the world went dark again.
She woke up in a ditch. It was night again. Or still. The moon looked different. Crescent shaped. Like a bannana. She didn’t know the circle could morph. It’s at least something different. She fell back asleep.
She woke up in a ditch. It was raining. The moon had morphed to a full circle this time, though she could barely see it through the clouds. being soaked wasn’t a good thing, she knew this… but considering how many green vines had grown over her, it wasn’t that bad. In fact it was actually kind of comfortable. Compared to the rocks.
Morning came… and it blinded her… but not as much as last time. And at least this time the ringing was reduced to just a dull ache in the back of her head. It was kind of pretty… that sunrise. So she closed her eyes and let the heat of the sun dry her.
Until a shadow fell over her. “Mommy, mommy, there’s someone down there, trapped in the vines! I think it’s dead…” She looked up, and kind of tilted her head to get a better view. There was… someone else there. A someone else who screamed, and ran away. “Mommy, it moved!” Odd.
So she grabbed her staff and got up. People crowded around her, helping her up onto wobbly legs. Leading her to their caravan. Asking her questions… who she was, where she came from what was she doing there, where was she going. She… had no answers. They called her A’yu… and so she decided to keep that name, and to travel… to see this new world… that wasn’t a ditch.
As Armen places his hand on your shoulder, you are pulled into a dream. Immediately you can tell that this is the dream you have been having for months, yet something is different…
You stalk the halls of Fanedaire, an ancient Drow stronghold, claimed now for the glory of all male Drow. Ruled by your father. You chuckle quietly, a man so passionate about violence he let his own son kill his mother. Your mother. Your blade. Letting out a haunting laugh, you can scarcely recall a time your mind was intact.
Your decades of torture…no, his decades of torture had broken him. He had never been a good person, but what he was now was a shadow of hate, pain incarnate. And he was fine with that. Revenge was sweet, hatred kept him going, violence made him giddy. Then…he heard it: The clumsy footsteps of slaves, sent as an advance to a Drow army, fodder. He liked fodder..well, killing them.
As he neared the cliff edge, the image became clear in his warped mind: Fanedaire was already fallen, the Drow were already in the city, already massacred most of his own soldiers. He slowly began to breath faster as he peered down at the carnage, before letting loose a scream of complete fury. A spell slammed into him, a priestess’ spell. He turned, a sadistic grin finding it’s place as he stalked forward, the priestess so pompous, so confident. Spells continued to hit into him, not slowing the dark elf in the least as he reached the woman, both hands grasping her head between them. To the Abyss with you! And may Lolth burn! He screamed this again and again, energy building between his hands until that sickening, satisfying crack sounded, and his palms slammed together within the gory mess. He laughed hysterically at the corpse of the Priestess, nothing gave him as much pleasure as doing that.
With a sigh, he stands, wiping his hands before looking back out across the city.. It was time to leave this place.
Suddenly the dream shifts, you are standing in a place void of light save for a pool of blood, the blood surges out, shaping itself to a form. As it drips away, the world around you shimmers from place to place, many buildings, many cities. Where the blood was stands a dark elf, his eyes on you. You know him, he was the one who sent the dreams, he was the one in the dreams. ..He was the sadistic prince of Fanedaire. A sneer forms upon his face as he speaks to you: I am Kashenyl, Embodiment of Hate, Pain, and Primal Violence. The voice echoes all around you, and you feel as if you should know this name. As Armen has told you, we need your power. Break my seal, and I will unleash the agony of the ages upon our enemies. Stepping forward, he locks gazes with you. To awaken your soul, I bind ours, Aellinal’Vin. For our world to rest, for the blood to feed others, we will end Her. Kashenyl begins to fade back into blood, stepping back from you. The world around you fades once more, you can feel something awaken deep within you. An innate power coming to life, coaxed from it’s nest by the whispers of another. You can feel yourself being reborn.
Awaken, Soul of Darkness and Hell, and show Her that our pain will not be forgotten! You can feel Kashenyl return to the seal, to fight that ancient evil. As you open your eyes, Armen has moved away, but where he had touched your shoulder, you can feel the burning of a tattoo, glowing black on your skin.
The world around you begins to blur and spin as you are drawn into distant memories..
“Can you teach me?” The young boy looks up at you expectantly, hopeful. Normally taking such humans as apprentices would be below you, but this boy..he was powerful. Whether or not he survived your training was the only deciding factor.
“I can cast most basic spells. I’m a quick learner and a good study..just the mages in my city say I’m too reckless.” Reckless? That was one way to put it. He was sinister in his spells, torturing other initiates and causing many of them to suffer from a form of insanity. He was clever about it, it was impressive.
Yes, he would do nicely as a pawn, and later he would cause enough havoc to allow you to move about this city unseen. “…Yes, I’ll train you.”
The blur began again, and you were left in a dark cavern. Underground.
The Dark Elf grinned as he wiped the blood from his hands. He began to chuckle softly to himself as he looked down at the gory mess he made of the cleric. It was impressive how much power he had harnessed to destroy the woman. All for a few harsh words. Crazy, yes, but also your only friend.
Stepping out from the shadows, you notice the blood stains even several feet away. “Xull’Ree, nicely done. Are you ready to go? Your mother is paralyzed, as I promised.” He looked back, grinning sadistically.
“Good, now she’ll feel the pain she caused. Thank you Aellinal’Vin. Killing her has been my goal for years.”
You were pulled from the memories, standing in front of you was a being of pure darkness, wrapped in chains. It was Kashenyl.
“Yes, I knew you before..do not look further back in your memory than this.”
His cold tone and haunting voice was familiar, and yet the evil in it was evident.
“Take this weapon, destroy our enemies. We will meet again.”
